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As the fall festival season revs up, standouts from fests past populate an engaging indie weekend. AndréHolland stars in Sundance-premiering Love, Brooklyn with Tribeca prizewinner Griffin in Summer, Cannes erotic noir Motel Destino, Venice thriller Stranger Eyes and more. Venice 2025 is underway, Telluride kicking off, and TIFF opening soon with a new constellation of independent films.
Neon’s Splitsville has a limited expansion to 30 runs in Week 2. Lurker from Mubi moves to 19 screens this weekend, expanding in NYC and L.A. and opening in Austin, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto and Montreal. Pools from Utopia expands from Chicago’s Music Box Theatre to the Quad in NYC and the NuArt in L,A.
Ethan Coen’s Honey, Don’t from Focus Features is holding at 1,338 theaters, Bleecker Street’s Relay starring Riz Ahmed and Lily James on 1,218 screens, and Ron Howard’s Eden from Vertical at 453 locations.
Love, Brooklyn from Greenwich Entertainment, the feature debut of RachaelAbigailHolder, opens at NYC’s Angelika Film Center. AndréHolland is a writer navigating complicated relationships with his ex, an art gallery owner (Nicole Beharie), and his currentlover, a newly single mother (DeWanda Wise), with the support of his best friend (Roy Wood Jr.). Written by PaulZimmerman. Holland is a producer and Steven Soderbergh EP of this modern romance set against the rapidly changing landscape ofBrooklyn. See Deadline’s Sundance review. Expands next weekend.
Vertical is out with comedy Griffin in Summer, the feature debut of writer-director Nicholas Colia that snagged multiple awards at Tribeca Festival 2024. It’s at 96% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes from 23 reviews. Starring newcomer Everett Blunck with Owen Teague(Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes), Melanie Lynskey(Yellowjackets),Abby Ryder Fortson(Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret)andKathryn Newton(Lisa Frankenstein).Blunck is Griffin, the most ambitious playwright of his generation, and 14 years old. When his mom (Lynskey) hires a handsome 25-year-old handyman (Teague),Griffin’s life and his new play take aninspired turn.
Winner of the U.S. Narrative Feature, Best Screenplayina U.S. Narrative Feature and Special Jury Mention for New Narrative Director at Tribeca. Playing at the Laemmle Royal in L.A., Kent Theatre in Brooklyn and Cinema Paradiso in Hollywood, FL.Adds Quad Cinema in NYC, Lamphouse Theatre, Twin Falls, Idaho, and Regal Virginia Center in Richmond, VA, next week.
Cannes-premiering tropical noir Motel Destino from Strand Releasing by Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz opens limited in NY (IFC Center) and L.A. (Laemmle Glendale). See Deadline review. The neon-hued Motel Destino is a roadside sex hotel under the burning blue skies of the coast of Northern Brazil, run by the boorish Elias (Fábio Assunção) and his frustrated, beautiful wife Dayana (Nataly Rocha). When 21 year-old Heraldo (Iago Xavier) finds himself at the motel, after messing up a hit and going on the run from both the police and the gang he let down, Dayana finds herself intrigued and lets him stay. Written by Wislan Esmeraldo,Aïnouz andMauricio Zacharias.
Film Movement opens thriller Stranger Eyes, written and directed by Singaporean filmmaker Siew Hua Yeo, in NYC at Film at Lincoln Center. Premiered at Venice last year, see Deadline review. After enduring months of a fruitless police investigation into the disappearance of their daughter, estranged young couple Junyang and Peiying (Wu Chien-ho and Anicca Panna) realize they are being filmed surreptitiously when they begin receiving mysterious packages at their door containing DVDs with footage of their daily lives. Suspecting that their voyeur is responsible for taking their daughter, the couple embark on a desperate mission to seek him out, only to find the truth of his identity is more complicated than it seems. Also stars the legendary Lee Kang-sheng.
Abramorama steps up with sports drama The Short Game by Frank Sanza at 142 theaters. StarsBen Krieger (Counting Stars) as Jeremy Avery, a teenage golf star vying for a college scholarship who suddenly is hit with crippling loss and faced with a life-altering decision right before a must-win state championship. Written by Sanza, Larry Boatright, E. Joren Christensen, Florrie Laurence and David Parks. With Mackenzie Astin (The Pitt), Katherine Cunningham (Yellowstone), Glenn Morshower (The Resident), Tyler Lofton (Love, Victor) Emma Parks (Dirty Towel), Adyn Alexander, Brandon Potter(The Chosen) andintroducingOwen Himfar.
Music Box Films debuts Southern family melodrama A Little Prayer by writer-directorAngus MacLachlan (Junebug), starring David Strathairn. Finally hitting theaters after premiering at Sundance 2023 (see Deadline review), it opens at the Angelika Film Center in NYC; L.A.’s Laemmle Royaland Laemmle Town Center, Chicago’s Music Box Theatre and Winston-Salem, NC’sa/perture cinema, with a national rollout to follow.
Ensemble cast includes Jane Levy, Celia Weston,Anna Campand Dascha Polanco. Bill (Strathairn) isapillar of his Southern community — a business owner,veteran and proud patriarch ofan unruly but loving family. His daughter Patti (Camp) has returned homeafter the collapse of her marriage, while his son David (Will Pullen) struggles to stayafloat. Bill gravitates towards Tammy (Levy), his daughter-in-lawand the only other person in his rambunctious household who values contemplationand repose. When he suspects David is straying from his marital vows, Bill must confront the perplexing inscrutability of his son’s choicesand their consequences for the rest of the family.